The Neighbor
by psycochick32
Summary: Meet “The Neighbor.” We all have one or have had one in the past… if you haven’t, be warned, because your time is coming… AU, Inu/Kag, a 9-piece collection
1. Meet The Neighbor

Moving Day

InuYasha rolled his eyes as Kagome tried to free a box… from near the bottom of the stack. "Oi, wench! You keep tugging on that box and you're gonna be flatter than a pancake when all that shit crushes you."

Kagome shot him a brilliant smile over her shoulder, briefly stilling him into silence. "You won't let any big, mean heavy boxes get me, would you?"

"Feh," he groused, "I don't see why you didn't let the old man pay for a moving company."

"We're doing just fine," she responded. "We're already halfway done!"

InuYasha gazed up to their new home. "Yeah… hey," he waggled his eyebrows with a grin that would have made his best friend proud, "the bed's already put together… whaddaya say we take a break and put our place to good use?"

She giggled as he swept down on her, but pushed at his chest when he tried to drag her out of the van. "C'mon, InuYasha. Let's get this finished."

He scoffed. "Still say we shoulda just fuckin' paid somebody else…" InuYasha hefted three boxes marked 'fragile-kitchen' easily into his arms before stepping back out of the moving van. She admired his hanyou muscles with a happy sigh before turning back to her task.

"I wanted to move into our apartment by ourselves," Kagome repeated herself for what felt like the 500th time with a sigh, still focused on the box that had her office supplies in it. "After all, this is the first time we…" she trailed off on a gasp as InuYasha's warning came true; the boxes piled on her prize were swaying alarmingly.

"Damn it," InuYasha muttered, setting the boxes on the opposite side of the driveway before zipping back to stop the leaning tower of house goods from crushing his fiancé. She gazed up at him with another award-winning smile, one that never failed to turn his brains to mush (and effectively quelling what looked to be a spectacular rant… ending with an "I told you so!").

He knelt to kiss her softly; the two drifted for a moment, lost in each other – when they were rudely interrupted by the screech of squealing tires. Both snapped their heads up to look out of the van…

Just in time to see a huge white vehicle speed down the driveway, loudly crunching over the boxes InuYasha had set down.

Kagome gaped. InuYasha curled his hands into fists and stood, cursing a blue streak and obviously intent on dismembering the person who so easily smashed their plates and glasses.

The driver pulled into a spot just a few spots down and hopped out – a tiny, scrawny girl who looked no older than Kagome. She stared at the demolished boxes with a slight cringe before looking up to meet InuYasha's furious eyes.

"Oh, sorry!" she chirped, before skipping past InuYasha and heading toward the stairs.

"Now wait just a god damned minute, bitch!" InuYasha made to follow, obviously planning to give the girl a piece of his mind, when he was stopped by a hand on his arm.

"Don't worry about it," Kagome muttered, though her voice and scent were tinged with anger. "We'll go to the store for some more later. Gives us an excuse to go shopping, right?"

InuYasha's ears flattened on his head – a mixture of irritation and chagrin.

He had a feeling he was going to hate this neighbor…

----

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own nor rent InuYasha or the characters of… though I own an ever-expanding collection of merchandise! The "real" InuYasha belongs to the genius of Rumiko Takahashi.

"The Neighbor" is a collection of nine pieces set in an Alternate Universe. The collection was written for the LiveJournal Community FirstTweak, for the "SFX" challenge.

"Moving Day" was written for the "Zah" (or "Dramatic Entrance") prompt.

"Moving Day", coming in at 568 words, was posted on LiveJournal on August 1st, 2009.


	2. Mr Squeakers

Mr. Squeakers

Kagome was zonked out in his arms; InuYasha snickered and rearranged her to carry her to bed. He was surprised she'd managed to slip off to sleep – she'd been so tense from watching the horror movie that she'd screamed once or twice.

She barely awoke as he slowly peeled off her work clothes, batting his hand away as he took advantage of swaths of bare skin. He pouted; it might have worked better if her eyes had been open.

Giving it up as a lost cause, InuYasha tucked her in, kissed her on the brow and headed back out to the living room. He had a video game calling his name…

The silence was shattered by a shrill shriek from the bedroom; InuYasha dropped his controller and rushed in to see Kagome sitting curled up at the head of the bed, eyes darting around the room. She didn't reek of fear, but there was definite nervousness in her scent…

"What happened?" he demanded, striding forward quickly.

A shaking hand pointed to the pile of clothes InuYasha had removed from her earlier. Confused, he focused his eyes, ears and nose on it…

There was a rustling sound. The edge of Kagome's shirt wiggled and she whimpered, eyes glued on the fabric. Whiskers… a dark nose… beady eyes.

A mouse. Too small to be a rat, InuYasha decided. He shot a confused look at the girl. Gods knew she wasn't afraid of the things – her brother actually had pet mice when she was growing up, she told him once.

"It ran over my legs while I was sleeping!" she informed him. "Please make it go away?"

InuYasha sighed and made to leap at it.

"Wait!" He stared at his fiancé, eyebrow raised in question. "Don't hurt it," she cooed, "Just… make it leave? What if it has a little mouse-y family or something?"

He rolled his eyes but nodded his acquiescence, moving forward. With a lunge, he caught the thing, dangling it by its tail as it squeaked with alarm. Smirking at the way Kagome hid behind her pillow, eyes barely visible over it, InuYasha made his way to the door. He almost dropped the mouse when suddenly he heard a young woman call out, "Mr. Squeakers? Do you have my mouse?"

InuYasha looked up. Leaning over the railing was that infernal bitch who had crushed their stuff!

"This your mouse?" he asked dryly.

"Oh yes! Thank you! He's usually loose in my apartment and they were over fixing pipes and I think he may have gotten into your place through the vent!"

InuYasha returned the mouse silently, biting his lip. He was certain if he opened his mouth, he wasn't going to say anything pleasant.

'_Stupid bitch…'_

----

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own nor rent InuYasha or the characters of… though I own an ever-expanding collection of merchandise! The "real" InuYasha belongs to the genius of Rumiko Takahashi.

"The Neighbor" is a collection of nine pieces set in an Alternate Universe. The collection was written for the LiveJournal Community FirstTweak, for the "SFX" challenge.

"Mr. Squeakers" was written for the "Basa Basa" (or "_rustle, rummage_") prompt.

"Mr. Squeakers", coming in at 456 words, was posted on LiveJournal on August 2nd, 2009.


	3. Obsession

Obsession

"The Neighbor," as InuYasha had taken to calling the bitch downstairs, was not the brightest crayon in the box. He had realized _that_ from the very first day. Today, though… today she seemed determined to make him eat those words.

By putting on _pounds_ of glittery make-up.

InuYasha thought he was going to blind himself just walking out to the mailbox. She stood by her giant SUV, talking loudly on a cell phone and actually _spinning_ with delight; each spin, the glitter caught the sun and reflected it into the hanyou's eyes.

His ears flattened as The Neighbor squealed excitedly and began pacing up and down the driveway. Not wanting to be caught staring (not that he could look at her for more than a moment at a time, anyway!), InuYasha shoved his outgoing mail into the box and latched it securely.

His ears flicked as he caught the '_hiss_' of some sort of body spray; moments later, the scent drifting to him on the breeze forced him to wrinkle his nose. It stank! He sneezed, burying his face in his sleeve and looked up.

He snarled.

The _bitch_ was putting on some glittery body spray… _next to his car._

Was she _stupid?!_ Or just blind? He'd had enough, that was for sure, and stomped toward her, still coughing on the disgusting fumes.

"What the _fuck_ do you think you're doing?!" he demanded, baring his fangs in anger. She dropped the can in shock, eyes wide…

And then squealed. "Eeeee," she shrieked, "You'd fit right in! Do you want to come see the Twilight movie with me?! With your hair and stuff… you're a little too tan, though," she murmured, trailing off. Then her eyes lit up, "Oh, but I have foundation and we can fix that! It'll be fine!" She made to grab for his arm; he dodged, ears buried in his hair.

"What? Fuck, no!" Close to his car now, he could see the way the body spray had nearly caked onto the hood. He groaned. "Look what you did! How easy is that shit gonna be to get off?!" He hesitantly reached out with a claw but then thought better of it. All he needed was to scratch the paint himself…

"Who cares?" The Neighbor replied flippantly. "I'm like one of the vampires! Ohmahgosh, do you read those books?! They're so awesome and I want a boyfriend just like in those books but I don't think there are vampires so I was thinking maybe a bat hanyou or bat youkai because they're kind of like vampires, right?"

InuYasha cringed at the thought of this shrill creature being within fifty feet of a creature with such great hearing. The poor man would be deaf in a week.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" The Neighbor wheedled again. InuYasha shook his head hard, as though he were trying to dislodge something unpleasant from his face. "All right," she said with a pout. "Suit yourself. But you guys will at least have to come to my party!" she insisted. "I'll come hit you guys up when I get home!"

A car pulled into the driveway, stopping to let The Neighbor in. As they took off, InuYasha turned his attention to his poor… _glittery_… car.

----

Disclaimer: Not only do I not (sadly) own (or even rent) the InuYasha cast… I also do not (thankfully) own anything even distantly related to the "Twilight" series.

"The Neighbor" is a collection of nine pieces set in an Alternate Universe. The collection was written for the LiveJournal Community FirstTweak, for the "SFX" challenge.

"Obsession" was written for the "Paa" (or "sparkle") prompt.

"Obsession", coming in at 546 words, was posted on LiveJournal on August 4th, 2009.


	4. Flooding

Flooding

Kagome squealed, running down the hallway ahead of InuYasha with a breathless giggle. Reaching their door, she fumbled for her keys in her purse… but was no match for the hanyou behind her. Dropping the bags of groceries at their feet, he pinned her against the door, giving her a quick kiss before beginning to tickle her sides.

"Wench," he mock-growled under her laughter. "Maybe you'll think twice before smearing me with melted chocolate next time."

Kagome sniggered, trying to lean away from him as he rubbed his cheek against hers, smudging her face with the chocolate. He took advantage of her tilted head, licking her lips lightly before dipping down for a deeper kiss.

"But now you taste good," Kagome said with a shaky breath after she pulled back, resting her forehead against his.

"You _always_ taste good," he shot back with a bit of a leer. He chuckled and dragged his tongue along her cheek, stopping to tug lightly at her earlobe with his teeth.

Kagome squirmed. "Stop it!" She wiggled out from under him, grabbing the bags and finally pushing her way into the apartment. InuYasha caught her muttering, "Pig," playfully under her breath.

"Dog, bitch," he corrected. Once he was sure everything was in and the door was securely latched, he wandered to the bathroom in hopes of cleaning up the sugary mess Kagome had left on his face. He grabbed a cloth, smirking at the brown-smeared reflection. It seemed like everything was more fun when Kagome was around…

InuYasha's right ear flicked as something brushed the hairs on the tips in passing. He looked around for a bug but didn't see anything… shrugged, and began rinsing off his face.

His ear flicked again, this time catching a droplet of water as it dribbled down from… the ceiling?

InuYasha tilted his head back just in time to catch a drip to the eye. He cussed, rubbing it and eyeing an ever-growing stain.

"Kagome?"

"Yeah?" She walked up to the doorway, head tilted in that adorable way she had…

InuYasha motioned to the ceiling. "What that dripping earlier today?"

Kagome blinked, eyeing the marking warily. "No, I don't think so… I don't remember it, anyway."

Grumbling and growling, InuYasha grabbed Kagome by the arm and dragged her outside and to the stairs. "It's something to do with that stupid bitch, I just know it…" They got upstairs and InuYasha began pounding on the door, only holding back when Kagome pointed out he was close to ripping the thing off its hinges.

'_Keh, like I give a damn!'_

After a few moments of knocking, Kagome noticed the few windows facing the same direction were dark. "I don't think anybody's home, InuYasha," she muttered. He turned his ears to the inside… where he could hear running water, but nothing else.

"Feh. Let's go call that emergency number," InuYasha snarled, "before whatever she's done ruins our ceiling for good. There's a faucet on in there," he motioned to the door. "But you're right – there ain't nobody there."

They were halfway back to the stairwell when The Neighbor ran into them – at full speed, nearly knocking Kagome down the flight of steps. Quick movements on InuYasha's part kept his fiancé from cracking her head open; he snarled at the bitch, cocking his head in the direction of her apartment.

"Think ya' left something on," he muttered. "Our ceiling is leaking in the bathroom and we're right below you…"

"Oh!" The Neighbor cried, dropping her purse and running down to her door. InuYasha followed, Kagome stooping to grab the young woman's bag before joining the little party. She was thankful to be away when a small river began to flow out the water-tight door once it was opened; InuYasha cursed as the ice-cold water pooled around his feet.

The Neighbor wailed. "I'll lose my security deposit at this rate!" She flailed her arms in upset, "I can't believe I forgot to turn off the bath!"

Kagome put her hand on InuYasha's shoulder as he was about to tear into the girl himself. "I'll help you clean up if you have a mop and bucket," she said. "Maybe we can paint over the worst of the damage in our apartment and we won't have to get you in trouble?"

The wench really was too nice for her own good, InuYasha mourned as he went to go completely study the harm to their own apartment. If they didn't crack down on The Neighbor, she was sure to go from bad… to worse…

----

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own nor rent InuYasha or the characters of… though I own an ever-expanding collection of merchandise! The "real" InuYasha belongs to the genius of Rumiko Takahashi.

"The Neighbor" is a collection of nine pieces set in an Alternate Universe. The collection was written for the LiveJournal Community FirstTweak, for the "SFX" challenge.

"Flooding" was written for the "Pisha" (or "Splish") prompt.

"Flooding", coming in at 758words, was posted on LiveJournal on August 6th, 2009.


	5. The Battle Rages

The Battle Rages

_Twitch, twitch…_

InuYasha half rolled over, keeping his arms firmly locked around Kagome's waist and doing his best not to wake her up as he tried to discern just what had pulled him out of his slumber. _'Hm, that damn kitten stopped yowling,'_ he noted.

He'd just about slipped back to sleep, nose buried back in Kagome's hair, when the distant sound of glass shattering tugged at him.

That wasn't a normal night-time noise…

Sighing, InuYasha disentangled himself from his fiancé and headed to the door with one last longing glance at the warm bed. He may not have felt cold like humans, but he certainly knew "comfy" when he was wrapped in it…

"Damn you, asshole!"

InuYasha's ears perked and he tilted his head back. Damn it, he should have known The Neighbor would have been involved…

Cussing under his breath at the kitten as she wound her way around his ankles, InuYasha slowly made his way to the kitchen window, peering outside and jerking back as a heavy, black stereo zipped down from the floor above, crashing on the what sounded like a car below.

InuYasha said a quick prayer of thanks that his car was parked on the opposite side of the parking lot. The further from that crazy bitch, the better!

"You whore! I spent good money on that!"

"How the hell can you call me that?! _You_ slept with _her_!"

"I was drunk!"

_Crash! Bang!_ A vase followed the same path as the stereo, shattering on top of the car. InuYasha wondered if the bitch even realized (or cared) that somebody's innocent vehicle was being destroyed in her rage.

Oh well, maybe it was hers.

"InuYasha?" A tired yawn broke out from behind him, and he turned to wrap his arms around Kagome, as though to shield her from the crazy shit taking place one floor up. "Wha's goin' on?" She rubbed an eye with the back of a fist and he shivered, falling in love with her all over again – she was just so damned cute!

"Nothin' too big," he responded, pointing out the window; a box full of what appeared to be comics fell past next, the subsequent crash finally setting off a car alarm.

"God damn it, you fuckin' cunt! Those were collectibles!"

"Then go down and collect them… along with the rest of your shit! You're out of here as of tonight, mister!" InuYasha actually cringed as a computer monitor flew past the window; Kagome's eyes nearly bugged out of her head.

"Are they crazy? They're going to wreck the cars out there!"

The computer's tower fell next, and another car alarm joined in the cacophony.

InuYasha snarled at the annoying, repetitive nails-against-chalkboard noises but tilted his head up when he heard what sounded like somebody hitting another.

He may want to crack The Neighbor's skull on a fairly regular basis, but InuYasha did _not_ put up with men hitting women. Ever.

"Ow, ow, ow! Fuck bitch, put down the fuckin' broom! I'm goin', I'm goin'!"

'_Okay,'_ InuYasha conceded, _'That's pretty hilarious. At least the bitch has a backbone.'_ Now if only she had a brain to match…

Sharing looks (_'Ya wanna?')_, the two judged the situation safe from flying objects and went out the front door to gaze at the damage…

Just in time to see the ensuing fight in the parking lot as the owners of the two beat-up cars turned on The Neighbor and her dead-beat, cheating boyfriend.

The only thing that could have made it better, InuYasha decided, would have been popcorn.

The next morning, he was delighted to salvage some mint-condition comics from the disaster-zone below.

----

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own nor rent InuYasha or the characters of… though I own an ever-expanding collection of merchandise! The "real" InuYasha belongs to the genius of Rumiko Takahashi.

"The Neighbor" is a collection of nine pieces set in an Alternate Universe. The collection was written for the LiveJournal Community FirstTweak, for the "SFX" challenge.

"The Battle Rages" was written for the "Fuaaa" (or "Yawn") prompt.

"The Battle Rages", coming in at 610 words, was posted on LiveJournal on August 16th, 2009.


	6. Territory

Territory

InuYasha crouched near the stairwell door, ears strained to each footstep as his nemesis descended the stairs. _'Twenty… keep goin', idiot! There… 21, 22, 23…'_ Once he hit 30, InuYasha silently slipped out the door and pressed the call button on the elevator, which was blessedly still on the first floor.

InuYasha hated the elevator. He hated the way he couldn't control the motion, the way it _allllmost_ made his ears pop but _not quite_ and most of all, he hated the stench of the too-many humans that used the too-small environment.

But desperate times called for desperate measures.

'_Damn that bitch anyway!'_

After the midnight throw-down between The Neighbor and her scum of a boyfriend, InuYasha figured they were home free. The Neighbor was facing some pretty hefty charges for the two demolished cars and he figured the guy knew better than to come back.

He'd never, ever felt more disappointment as when he learned The Neighbor would be pleading temporary insanity. He snorted. _'Insane is a good fuckin' way to describe her!'_ As the doors slid open, he slid to the side, nose working overtime to make sure his adversary wasn't lying in wait.

It smelled safe…

He pulled out his keys as he walked… well, power-walked, really… to his door, hoping to get in and get the door locked before-

"Hey, neighbor!! Long time no see! How've you been?" InuYasha cringed, ears flat in his hair, claws embedded in his palms so hard he wondered if he'd ever get them out. The Neighbor kept chattering away as he _thwapped_ his forehead against the door.

She was stalking him, he was sure of it.

How else was she _everywhere he went?!_

Kagome found it humorous. It seemed The Neighbor had a bit of a "puppy crush" (InuYasha snarled mentally at Kagome's expression) on him ever since he'd saved her from the horrifying act of dropping her groceries. She stared at him, her heart beating faster, her face flushed and eyes all sparkly.

'_Keh! See me ever be helpful to anybody again!'_

Since then, she'd been appearing _everywhere._ In the supermarket, in the laundry room, by the pool… he wondered sometimes if she had some mind-reading youkai blood, or if she'd spiked his drink and then slipped a tracker under his skin like in some sci-fi movie.

Or a horror movie. Which his life was quickly devolving into. _'_The Neighbor_,'_ he thought with some fanfare playing in the back of his mind, _'Directed by the same man who brought you _Nightmare On Elm Street_ and _The People Under The Stairs… _starring InuYasha and Kagome Takahashi. And featuring the creepy neighbor from upstairs!'_

He didn't even know her name! Wasn't that some sort of sign that they were obviously not soul-mates?! You know, besides him _having a mate_ and all?!

InuYasha still didn't understand why Kagome wouldn't just let him scare her off completely. Just one good blood-rage!

He noticed The Neighbor had stopped talking and realized by the feel of the air that she was obviously waiting for something. _'Oh well.'_

"Sure, whatever. I gotta get going." InuYasha made to open the door but halted as the knob turned in his hand of its own volition. The door pulled open and there was his saving grace, his Kagome. "Hey, baby!" he nearly sighed in relief.

"Hi, InuYasha! Welcome home!" She turned to The Neighbor. "Sorry to interrupt, but we have dinner plans."

The Neighbor's eyes narrowed and InuYasha felt something sinister in the air.

"Uh, no," The Neighbor snottily shot back to Kagome. "He just agreed to come with _me_ to dinner! I figure we need to spend some… quality time together."

InuYasha's eyes widened. He certainly did not remember doing any such thing… Kagome's eyes sparked and InuYasha felt a tightening in his groin. Damn, his bitch looked good when she was pissed off. At somebody other than him, of course. He grabbed her arm, intent on bringing her inside to work off her tension in a much more mutually pleasurably way (though watching her rend The Neighbor limb from limb would be _almost_ as satisfying) but she jerked it from his hold.

'_Oh, shit! Is she pissed at me?!'_

The Neighbor gave Kagome a haughty look. "I figure he can do much better than you."

Kagome was glaring full-on at The Neighbor now, who obviously didn't have an iota of common sense in her body because she was staring right back! "I don't know who you think you are," Kagome nearly snarled. "I've been telling InuYasha to be polite to you after you destroyed our dishes, sprayed glitter all over his car, and woke us up in the middle of the night… and that's just the things I remember the most! Now you think he wants to go home with _you?_ I don't think so! Get out of here before I actually let him get rid of you!"

The Neighbor's bottom lip wriggled and her eyes went shiny.

'_Shit!'_ InuYasha turned away, refusing to be drawn in by the woman in obvious distress. Kagome folded her arms… but knew she'd break.

Tears began to roll down the woman's cheeks.

Kagome sighed. "Listen, I don't want to be cruel. I can forgive you what you've done before. But InuYasha is my husband, and he's staying mine. There are limits. Just… don't push them, okay? We're neighbors; I want us to get along."

The Neighbor nodded emphatically. "I think that's a good idea, too!" She threw InuYasha one last, longing look before turning to go upstairs. "I guess I'll just be going, then…"

Kagome looked like she was going to call the woman back and ask her to go to dinner with them.

InuYasha shut the door before she could and gave her a lascivious look.

The dinner plans could wait.

----

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own nor rent InuYasha or the characters of… though I own an ever-expanding collection of merchandise (and my cat keeps stealing my plushies)! The "real" InuYasha belongs to the genius of Rumiko Takahashi.

"The Neighbor" is a collection of nine pieces set in an Alternate Universe. The collection was written for the LiveJournal Community FirstTweak, for the "SFX" challenge.

"Territory" was written for the "Doki Doki" (or "Heartbeat") prompt.

"Territory", coming in at 972 words, was posted on LiveJournal on August 22nd, 2009.


	7. Techno Woes

Techno Woes

InuYasha's ears flattened as he heard the upstairs neighbor squeal with glee and giggle.

Somehow, the moron had managed to snag a man who loved to shower her with gifts. InuYasha wasn't sure he wanted to know _how_… but he was thankful she was no longer outwardly lusting after him. Still, though – he could do without her new boy-toy's brand of love: a puppy (fluffy and white… Kagome was convinced that it wasn't coincidence she'd picked a puppy with ears remarkably similar to his), a new couch (which got stuck in the stairwell… stupid deliverymen!), and most annoyingly, a new entertainment system… complete with surround-sound.

InuYasha wasn't sure what had possessed the man to make that large of a purchase; he assumed the guy had no idea what had happened to his predecessor's belongings.

InuYasha didn't know if he was amused or disturbed by the idea of the wench throwing the puppy from the apartment. _'Note to self… never bring that idea up with Kagome!'_

Still, things were going fairly well. Other than a few ridiculously loud horror and action movies (and one really poorly-timed porn flick), The Neighbor didn't keep them up all that often. In fact, she showed a remarkable amount of restraint.

Until one day, when The Neighbor's New Man had apparently bought her some sort of gaming system. InuYasha wasn't sure what it was, but he knew it spelled trouble.

First came the first-person shooters. They weren't too bad; similar to the action movies, InuYasha's only complaint was the woman's high-pitched squeals when she was killed. He often had dreams of gagging the stupid, mouthy bitch.

Then came the racing games. The noises grated on InuYasha's nerves; he wanted to beat somebody. Knocking on the door and asking them to turn it down didn't help… they'd do so, but have it turned back up by the time he got down the stairs. And of course, they didn't start playing until the office was closed for the day.

'_How damn convenient!'_

Kagome was out shopping; InuYasha had been too comfortable watching a murder mystery to join her. Of course, he wasn't sure why the stupid detectives worked their way person by person. Why didn't they just beat on the people until the morons spilled the beans?

About three-quarters through the show, a heavy beat started from upstairs. _'Stomping?'_ He wondered if the girl had somehow figured out that a loose mouse and a playful puppy were not a good combination. But it didn't sound like fearful stomping. It was more like… in tempo with something. Then high-pitched, tinny Japanese music began playing, and his heart sank.

'_Oh gods… she has Dance Dance Revolution.'_

It didn't stop… the show was drowned out by the off-tempo stomping of The Neighbor and he began to twitch. He was about to go upstairs and give the woman a piece of his mind when Kagome came in, huffing and hauling a handful of grocery bags.

"There's more in the car," she informed him, and InuYasha willingly went out to bring in the heavier stuff as Kagome worked to put their food and other purchases away.

As he came back in with the final load, InuYasha noticed Kagome was standing in the living room, staring up with confusion at the ceiling. "What in the world is that pounding?"

InuYasha sighed. "Apparently the wench has _Dance Dance Revolution_ now."

Kagome's eyes widened and she stared back up. While it was one of her favorite games, she waited to play it at a friend's house, so as not to disturb the people below them.

The Neighbor obviously hadn't given it a second thought.

The song The Neighbor was "dancing" to kicked up a notch and she began moving faster and stomping harder. InuYasha growled low in his throat and moved to go upstairs and inform her of her transgressions when they both heard her shout out. Almost simultaneously, there was a loud crash, the sounds of things hitting the floor. InuYasha, with his better hearing, could pick up electrical noises, high-pitched enough that his ears flattened.

"Owwwww," he heard The Neighbor moan. He smirked. Moments later, he heard her gasp.

"Oh no! I broke the TV!"

InuYasha grinned at the sweet, _silent_ victory.

----

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own nor rent InuYasha or the characters of… though I own an ever-expanding collection of merchandise (and a new wall scroll)! The "real" InuYasha belongs to the genius of Rumiko Takahashi.

"The Neighbor" is a collection of nine pieces set in an Alternate Universe. The collection was written for the LiveJournal Community FirstTweak, for the "SFX" challenge.

"Territory" was written for the "Dooon" (or "Boom!") prompt.

"Techno Woes", coming in at 708 words, was posted on LiveJournal on August 27th, 2009.


	8. The Truth Amuses

The Truth Amuses

InuYasha happily ran his claws through Kagome's hair, loving the way she snuggled closer against him to enjoy the caress. It was about time to take her to bed, he noticed; she'd been nodding off and jerking awake in about ten-minute cycles for the last hour and a half.

He was just trying to figure out how to get out from under her without jarring her awake (she was slumped over his chest, one leg between his, and a hand tangled in the hair draped over his shoulder, so this was not an easy equation)… when he was startled by a knock at the door.

'_The hell?'_ Who would be visiting them at that time of night? InuYasha ran through the list of friends in his head but couldn't pick one – most everybody either lived too far away to visit this late on a whim or would have called first. After a few moments of silence, InuYasha shrugged. _'Must have mistaken the address or something.'_

At InuYasha's movement, Kagome stirred again and blinked sleep-dazed eyes up at him. He grinned – she was too adorable like that – and nodded. "Hey wench, nice nap?"

She smiled and snuggled tighter against him, as though burrowing into his chest. He smiled and shifted so she lay mostly on the couch and was using him as a pillow. His hand drifted to her still-flat stomach and his face took on a shining quality.

'_My kid!'_

Another knock rang through the apartment and InuYasha's ears perked up. Much to Kagome's displeasure, he transferred her grip to a long pillow and wiggled out from under her, headed to the door.

He began ranting before he began opening the door. "Do you have _any_ idea how late it-"

'_Police?'_

Two uniformed officers stood flanking his door; one had an official-looking clipboard and looked ready to take notes.

"Um… can I help ya'?" InuYasha leaned up against the doorjamb, arms crossed. This was not something he needed at minutes to midnight when he had to work the next day.

"Would you mind answering a few questions, sir?" the female officer asked kindly. She seemed honest enough and InuYasha had nothing to hide.

He shrugged, "Sure, I guess. Is there a problem?" He answered a few obligatory opening questions: his name, age, that sort of thing.

Then the male officer dropped the bombshell. "How well do you know your upstairs neighbor?"

'_Oh, hell. I should have known she'd be involved.'_

InuYasha sighed. On one hand, she seemed harmless enough, if completely oblivious. On the other hand, lying to the cops was not something he made a habit of; sure, he'd gotten out of a ticket once or twice, but this seemed a bit more serious.

"I've run into her a time or two," he admitted cautiously. "Usually I just see her in passing… to be honest, I try to avoid her as much as possible," he said with a sigh.

"And why is that?"

"She's kind of a dumb broad," InuYasha responded easily enough. "Not harmfully stupid, but just not… aware, sometimes."

"Have you ever run into her male acquaintance?"

He should have figured this had something to do with the guy loaded with cash. Kagome had remarked in passing how strange it was that The Neighbor's last boyfriend was all but "white trash" – this new boy-toy of The Neighbor's was always buying her gifts. It was an intriguing change.

"Not really. I think I met him once in the elevator. Made some small talk."

The woman narrowed her eyes at InuYasha. "Has either one of them ever attempted to sell you or your wife drugs?"

InuYasha's jaw dropped. This was too good to be true. Oh, sure, he wasn't actually _hoping_ the chick got hauled off in cuffs, but… it'd certainly make his life a bit easier.

He realized how dumb he must look standing there flapping his jaw and shut it with a _click_. "Nope," he answered truthfully. "Not Kagome, either… at least, not that she told me. Do I have to get her? I'd rather she stay asleep if possible…" InuYasha trailed off.

"No, that will be fine."

"He's always buying her expensive gifts, though," InuYasha added on to his previous answer. "The guy, I mean, and our neighbor. Television, game systems, that sort of thing."

"How would you know that?" The male officer seemed suspicious.

"They've gotten stuck in the stairwell and tied up the elevator for hours," InuYasha said, jaw a bit tense as he remembered. "It made me late to work one time; they managed to wedge a couch in the stairs somehow. Stupid humans," he scoffed, before remembering that he was speaking to two said humans. He cringed. "No offense."

"None taken," the woman responded, though the man looked like he wanted to beat InuYasha with his nightstick. Flashlight. Whatever the hell round thing was in the guy's belt.

There was a moment of silence.

InuYasha shifted uncomfortably. _'Way to go, moron. Insult the police. That'll go over real well.'_

The silence grew unnerving and InuYasha finally cleared his throat. "Is that all?"

"Do you have any more to tell us?"

He wracked his brain. "Not that I can think of."

"Call us if you think of anything," the female said while handing him a business card. InuYasha took it with a nod and waited for them to walk away before closing and locking the door.

InuYasha busied himself with getting ready for bed: turning the sheets down, getting Kagome some water to take her vitamins with… he'd just bent over to pick her up when he heard a commotion outside.

"InuYasha?"

He remained bent over her, ears and eyes pointed at the door. Kagome managed to push him aside, curious as to what would have drawn his attention. The two slowly stepped outside; InuYasha wondered if he might score more free comics tonight.

What he saw was even better.

"I ain't done sellin' no drugs, man! You can't prove a thing! I pay taxes, damn it; I pay your god-damned salaries! Leave me the fuck alone!" The two officers who had questioned InuYasha earlier had a man leaned up against the squad car, hands cuffed behind his back. When one pulled a large baggy filled with white powder from his pocket, the young man froze for a breath before his flailing renewed with even greater intensity. "You-- that--" he sputtered, obviously not capable of lying well. "You can't prove that's mine!"

Above them, The Neighbor shouted through tears. "You can't take him! I love him!"

InuYasha cringed. So much as he hated to hear women cry… who could stick up for a drug dealer of a boy-toy?

The police ignored her crying as they continued to frisk the angry, thrashing young man. They pulled another bag – this one with pot inside, if InuYasha had to guess – from his jacket. The suspect's stammering continued as he tried to talk his way out of the trouble he'd found himself in.

"We can make a deal, right? I mean, I've got money. I've got some friends who can hook you up with stuff… anything you want, man!"

'_Is he really that stupid?'_ InuYasha gaped. _'He's… actually trying to buy off the police?'_

Next to him, Kagome had her hand over her mouth in shock. The next thing they heard was even more mind-boggling.

"If you take him, do I have to give all the stuff back?" The Neighbor called out, again ignored by the cops.

InuYasha felt like slamming his head on the wall as the police drove away; The Neighbor hung over the railing, still shrieking at the thought of losing her ill-gotten gains. After all, she hollered to anybody who would listen, it wasn't _her_ fault! She didn't know! She was innocent!

Seemed like nobody would be sleeping well tonight…

But, InuYasha consoled himself, the wench upstairs would stop getting shit stuck in the stairwell. He could live with that.

----

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own nor rent InuYasha or the characters of… I have a new t-shirt, though! The "real" InuYasha belongs to the genius of Rumiko Takahashi.

"The Neighbor" is a collection of nine pieces set in an Alternate Universe. The collection was written for the LiveJournal Community FirstTweak, for the "SFX" challenge.

"The Truth Amuses" was written for the "Kon Kon" (or "Knock Knock!") prompt.

"The Truth Amuses", coming in at 1,306 words, was posted on LiveJournal on December 8th, 2009.


	9. Full Circle

Full Circle

"Oh, InuYasha!" Kagome placed a hand on her growing belly, happily watching the movers carry their furnishings into their brand new house. "It's all ours!"

InuYasha grinned happily. A home of their own, a place to raise their kid _– his child!_ – and he didn't even have to move all their shit! With Kagome well into her third trimester, he'd absolutely forbidden them doing it themselves and called for a professional company.

They weren't moving far – just to the other side of the city – but the easier the transition, the possible.

InuYasha wrapped his arms around his wife on a happy sigh, resting his chin on her head. "Are you happy?"

A giggle reverberated up through her body. "Yes! I can't wait to get everything all set up and it'll be so comfy… and the house has that really big bathtub!"

He knew she'd love that.

The two relaxed outside, InuYasha settling his wife comfortably (well, as comfy as she could get) into a lawn chair to stay out of the way of the movers. They hadn't had the same days off in a long while; InuYasha had picked up extra days to make up for the days he knew he'd be taking off once Kagome went into labor.

"I missed this," Kagome whispered, shifting to snuggle back into his chest; she'd finally talked him into sitting in the chair with her. "You make such a great pillow."

"It's so quiet here," InuYasha noted. They'd chosen their new home very carefully, picking a street that was in a safe neighborhood, with what appeared to be reliable neighbors.

Minutes later, InuYasha bit his tongue. Heavy rap music, with Earth-rattling bass, played out of a large white vehicle speeding down the road. InuYasha glared, ears back on his head.

Kagome stiffened uncomfortably as the vehicle pulled into the driveway across the street. She gasped – it was a very familiar vehicle.

The driver's side door opened sloooowly…

And out bounced the bane of InuYasha's existence.

'_No way.'_ InuYasha's eyes couldn't possibly grow any wider. _'It's not fucking possible. There's no god-damned way…'_

It was _her_.

Kagome laid her hands on InuYasha's and he realized he was growling.

A very familiar, very unwelcome screech echoed through the air as the young woman skipped into the house. "Mama! Who's your new neighbors?"

----

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own nor rent InuYasha or the characters of… though I own an ever-expanding collection of merchandise! The "real" InuYasha belongs to the genius of Rumiko Takahashi.

"The Neighbor" is a collection of nine pieces set in an Alternate Universe. The collection was written for the LiveJournal Community FirstTweak, for the "SFX" challenge.

"Full Circle" was written for the "Ha" (or "Gasp") prompt.

"Full Circle", coming in at 386 words, was posted on LiveJournal on December 31st, 2009.


End file.
